Harvey, Mets bats overpower Lee, Phillies

NEW YORK -- Ruben Amaro Jr. sat in the third-base dugout Sunday morning, looked out toward the empty seats of Citi Field, and had a vision.

Of course, he probably knew better than to blink.

“I like our team,” the general manager said. “The guys are playing good baseball. They’re competing. Guys are playing good.”

The day was young, his starting pitcher was not, and if his mood hadn’t changed by nightfall, then he had ignored a 5-0 Phillies loss to the New York Mets that, once again, drove them a game south of .500. And with their second loss in two days, the Phillies were off to St. Louis and Detroit for the rest of a road trip that has a chance to snap the G.M.’s strained patience.

A day after $19.5 million left-hander Cole Hamels could not last six innings in a defeat, $25 million left-hander Cliff Lee would surrender three home runs while being outclassed by Matt Harvey in a match of All-Star starters. That meant the Mets had won two of three on the weekend, ending the Phillies’ streak of four consecutive winning series.

“I mean when you have those two guys pitching, I always think we are going to win,” Charlie Manuel said. “When we don’t, we know what we have to do. We have a day off tomorrow, and Tuesday we are playing the St. Louis Cardinals. We have to worry about beating them. What the heck? We have to keep going and we have to keep battling. We’ll still fight. We’re all right. We’ll just keep going.”

The Phillies keep doing one thing, anyway: Collecting scoreless innings. Sunday, Harvey went seven, Scott Atchison went two, and the Phils were shut out for the eighth time in 99 games. The Phillies settled for singles from Jimmy Rollins, Michael Young and Chase Utley, and a double from Delmon Young. Domonic Brown fanned four times, as Harvey (8-2) struck out 10 and Atchison made it a dozen.

Though Lee (10-4) did strike out six in his six innings, he surrendered back-to-back first-inning solo home runs to David Wright and Marlon Byrd, and a three-run homer to Juan Lagares in the fifth.

With that, the Phillies --- frustrated as they were by Harvey’s velocity and location --- almost literally were reduced to a scoreboard vigil.

And with that back-door fortune, the Phillies would remain in second place, 6 1-2 behind the Braves. Without much starting pitching, hitting or bench strength, at least there was that.

“It was not deflating at all,” said Michael Young, of the series. “They went out and executed. Their guy threw a gem today. It’s tough to go back and say we should have won this game or that game. We played really well the first game. They played well the next two. We’ll take our day off and get back to work.”

Work will help, but better starting pitching is mandatory. Despite winning Friday, 13-8, the failed to silence the Mets despite having their pricey left-handers ready and rested.

“It’s frustrating for me, but what’s done is done,” Lee said. “You’ve got to give Harvey a lot of credit today. He’s been pitching unbelievable. He didn’t allow us to score. I knew that going in, that it was going to be a game where I couldn’t allow too many runs. And two home runs in the first didn’t help that.

“He’s had a good year and he has good stuff and when he’s pitching. I’ve got to keep the score lower than that.”